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Honda pays the bills by offering the most amount of car for the least amount of money. This philosophy has evolved into progressively larger cars as Honda has adapted to life as an American company, but this process has threatened the company's role in the subcompact segment. As the Honda Accord grew in proportions, so, too, did the Honda Civic as it filled the void. And then the Civic's growing size and sophistication opened the door for a subcompact Honda, which wasn't available. But when rising fuel prices and shrinking pocketbooks made subcompacts suddenly popular, Honda finally brought in its international-size car, the Honda Fit.

American consumers accepted the 2007 Honda Fit, and it quickly took control of the subcompact market. But where the Fit excelled in international-size utility, it suffered in international-size ergonomics. A seating position meant for the slight of stature was matched with a thrifty but underpowered engine, and small tires limited the Fit's appeal to hard-core fuel misers.

Fortunately a second-generation Fit was in the pipeline and with the 2009 Honda Fit we have the new features we wanted without compromising those that we already appreciated.

Call me old fashioned, but I often find inexpensive cars refreshing for their familiarity and simplicity. Here's a perfect example of that ethos. To go with its basic HVAC controls, honest approach to utility and straightforward efficiency, the Fit has a real spare tire.

That's a real spare tire, a real jack and a real lug wrench. All good things when a real driver gets a real flat in a really isolated place.

I've complimented our 2009 Honda Fit's driver-side cupholder before, but what I haven't mentioned is that it holds coffee so securely, you can drive around open-top.

I have a bit of a cafe latte habit. I don't like putting a sippy top on my beverage, because then I don't get to enjoy the crema before the foam dissolves. But in most cars, I then face the peril of having my latte splash onto surrounding upholstery and buttons that might get all sticky. The Fit is the only car I've driven in which I can leave the top off with a clear conscience.

Car salesmen count on it and the Fit doesn't disappoint. I'm talking about the feel of the steering wheel in our Honda. As you can see, it's a pretty nice piece. A bit of an odd design maybe, but it's thicker than most wheels you'll see in cars of this class and there's a nice leather covering on it.

Also note the satellite controls. There are plenty of them, yet they don't get in the way. They're also easy to work with your thumbs, which I like.

More importantly, the actually steering feel of the car on the road is pretty solid. I always disliked the feel of our Civic Si as it always felt like it wanted to spring back to the center. The Fit is no Porsche, but it feels much more natural than that Civic Si ever did.

As Al reported last Friday, our Fit was in need of a B1 service. So today we dropped it off at Honda of Santa Monica to get the full treatment. Three hours later, we had our Fit back after an oil change, various inspections and a tire rotation.Cost: $142.16.

Just back from a trip to the Bay Area over the weekend. Great time to drive after all the recent rain. Bright sun and lots of snow on the mountains that circle the basin.

In fact, there was so much snow that I went up U.S. 101 to avoid any potential slowdowns on snowy Interstate 5 up on top of the mountains through the Grapevine. Of course even when I cut over from U.S. 101 at Santa Barbara to the old stagecoach road across San Marcos Pass, the mountains on the other side of the Santa Ynez Valley even had a dusting of snow.

It was a great weekend to drive the old El Camino Real. Hardly anybody on the road, for California, anyway. Took the Honda Fit. For which am widely thought to be insane.

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